Father Accused of Trying to Sell His Adopted Son

PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) A father in Texas is accused of trying to sell his 16-year-old adopted son.

He's accused of taking a check and a vehicle in exchange for signing away his parental rights.

Ronald Hoyt, 45, has been charged with sale or purchase of a child, a third degree felony. Reached by phone, he denied the allegations and declined to talk further without consulting an attorney.

For a thousand dollar check and a truck, Pearland Police believe Ronald Hoyt was selling his son.

“I didn't believe he would take it this far,” Alan Hoyt, Ronald’s son, said.

The transaction was captured on security cameras last Tuesday. Hoyt was arrested Friday.

The final act 16 year old Alan said after years of turmoil.

“He made sure I knew that I was adopted,” said Alan Hoyt.

Hoyt adopted Alan when he was a young boy. The relationship turned rocky, he said, as he got older.

“There was just a lot of bad stuff,” said Alan Hoyt.

Last year he met Michael Gonzales who gave him a home.

“He didn't have anyone who cared about him and he was just a lost soul,” said Michael Gonzales, managing conservator.

He went to court to become his managing conservator and in December decided he wanted to adopt Alan.

But first Hoyt wanted something.

He asked for $6500 cash and truck.

They signed the deal last week with an undercover Pearland Police Officer in the room.

Hoyt was arrested when he came back 3 days later.

“That's a sorry excuse for a father in my opinion,” Gonzales said.

Hhoyt denied trying to sell Alan when KTRK called and declined to talk on the record without an attorney and he doesn't have one.

Hoyt is out on bond.

The official charge against him is sale or purchase of a child.  That's a third-degree felony.